Luis Alberto - a forgotten man at Liverpool?

The Reds signed the young Spaniard from Sevilla last summer for £6.8m but hasn't been seen an awful lot.

The whole signing of Luis Alberto seems to be a bit of a mystery. We all know that Liverpool’s way of recruiting players is a little unorthodox with the transfer committee – but given the lack of game time the young Spaniard has had this season, he must be thinking whether it is worth him pursuing a career at Anfield beyond this season.

Alberto signed from Sevilla as a young, squad player – maybe even one for the future at the age of 20, now 21. But his first team chances have been limited this term.

The only starts he has made have been in the cup competitions under Brendan Rodgers, but he has only featured as a substitute in the odd Premier League encounter this season.

What we have seen of him is a player who likes to put his foot on the ball, looks carefully for a pass and is very much a player that likes to keep possession. He probably doesn’t take the risk some want with the final ball – but risk taking could probably come with a bit more experience.

He doesn’t so much run around the field, but glides, and moves like someone you would probably associate with someone who has more experience about them.

All of his nine Premier League appearances have come from the bench and he has played a combined total of 144 minutes – in total just over one and a half full matches.

Name

Team

Pos

Mins

Apps

Luis Alberto

Liverpool

MF

135

9

He was hauled off at half time during the FA Cup win over Oldham Athletic and, again, only made a brief appearance in the win at Bournemouth.

One would think it would be a good idea to aid his development in the under-21 side – but he has only played on one occasion this season – in a 5-2 win over Sunderland at Anfield where he scored a hat-trick.

Was it an acknowledgement that he should be above that level? If so, why haven’t Liverpool used him more?

It’s a strange one. Maybe Brendan Rodgers doesn’t see him fitting into the Reds side in any capacity at the moment with the team playing so well, but the little amount of game time for a man that has been on the bench week in week out for much of the season seems strange - especially when there have been times Liverpool have won the game with plenty of time to spare.

Perhaps with more games coming Liverpool's way we'll see more of him, or maybe enough has been seen behind the scenes to think he's not going to make it at Anfield.

Ian Bolland

A journalism graduate of Liverpool John Moores University. During his time at university, Ian spent time on work experience at local newspapers in Liverpool, Bolton and Wigan, and prior to that he did work for The Observer's 'fans verdict'. Ian also has interests in news, current affairs and business but mostly sport, including football, rugby league, cricket, golf and Formula 1, amongst others.